Rugby: Gold: Sharks will fight to the death against Canes

Patrick Lambie of the Sharks. Photo / Getty Images

It is ironic when Gary Gold speaks of the Hurricanes sensing "blood in the water" ahead of the visit of the Sharks to Wellington this weekend, but the former Springbok assistant coach insists Super Rugby's overall leaders will have to sweat blood of their own to beat the Durbanites.

Fighting words from a captain standing firmly at attention at the bridge as the good ship "Sharks" sinks below the waters, but Gold is adamant that every gun available will fire while it can.

"The New Zealand Conference is very tight and the Hurricanes would be silly to even remotely take the foot off the gas, even if they are playing a team low on confidence," Gold said.

"Our form has been particularly poor, and they're seeing our blood in the water, but they will also know through John Plumtree [the former Sharks coach who is now with the Hurricanes] that the Sharks will fight to the death."

Gold conceded from the Sharks' base in Queenstown that the KZN team's title ambitions have been extinguished after their fourth loss in a row last week, against the Highlanders, and the rest of the season is about rebuilding supporters' faith.

"It's a matter of showing our supporters that this jersey matters a lot to us," Gold said. "The poor performances have hurt us and we have to fix it."

Last week, in Dunedin, the Sharks conceded 48 points, a dismal showing not much worse than the 50-point defeat to the Crusaders in Durban a few weeks before.

This week the challenge is against a team who are leading the competition and potentially more lethal on attack than the Highlanders..

"It's about regaining pride and letting the supporters know that we are hurting and this is far from what we accept," the coach said.

"We have three games to go on tour and nowhere to hide - not that anybody wants to hide - and it's about showing some incredible courage."

- Independent Newspapers, SA